Air conditioning apparatus



March 1936. R. PJWHITMER ETAL 2,035,628.

AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS I Filed Oct, 25, 1933 s Shets-Sheei March 1, 1935- RQP QWHITMER E2 AL v AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 25, 1953 s sheets-sheet M r 3 R. P: \IVHITMER El AL ,03

AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 25, 193% s Sheets-Shee't enema Mar. a1, 1936 2,0353% Am GONDIEIONKNG APPARATUS G. Macy.

Application October 25, 1933, Serial No. 695,194

7 Claims. (l.' 261--91) This invention relates to air conditioning apparatus and more particularly to," that type usually associated with heating apparatus.

The invention has for one of its objects the provision of air conditioning devices adapted to be used in connection with heating apparatus.

A further objectis to provide means whereby air is circulated through a heating device and portions of a building heated thereby.

A still further object is to provide means for filtering and washing the circulated air to render the same clean and wholesome.

Another object is to provide means whereby moisture-is supplied to the-air in a controlled manner to the end that healthful conditions of humidity are maintained.

Still another object is to provide means whereby the air is circulated, filtered, washed and humidified by mechanism which is automatically controlled.

Yet another object lies in'meansfor circulating air over a heated surface-and into a building by means of air forcing mechanism, combined with means for circulating the air by gravity when the air forcing mechanism is not in use.

An additional object is to provide means whereby air circulated and filtered by the apparatus may be cooled and circulated through a building.

A further additional object is to provide an apparatus of the. class described in combination with control means whereby the several elements of the system are automatically controlled to circulate in a dwelling or the like, air which has been properly cleaned, heated and humidified.

Other objects will appear in the following de-- scription and accompanying drawings in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevational, sectional view of the air circulating system with associated mechanism and ducts;

Fig. 2 is a detail view taken from line 2-2 in Fig. 1, showing parts to be referred to;

Fig. 3 is a view showing approximately the same mechanism as Fig. 1, with cooling elements and draft control means to be referred to;

Fig. 4 is a view showing a. variation in arrangement of elements shown in Fig. 1,1which will be described;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view showing details of the assembly to be described;

Fig. 6 is an end elevational fragmented view taken from line 6-45 inFig. 5; v a

Fig. 7. is a sectional elevational view of washer mechanism taken from line 1-1 in Fig; 5;

Fig. 8 is. a iragmentedplan view of washer mechanism taken from line 88 in Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 is a sectional plan view of baflle mechanism to be described, taken from line 9-9 in Fig. 5;

Fig. 10 is a. fragmented elevational view of the same;

trical control circuits to be described;

Fig. 12 is a view showing details of blower bearing support to be described; and

Fig. 13 is a view showing details of motor drive arrangement to be referred to.

Fig. 1 discloses our air conditioning apparatus as generally comprising a system of ducts which include the'heating chamber of a warm air furnace or other heating device such as m, an outlet duct H and a return duct l2. Arrows indicate the direction of air flow therethrough.

Disposed within the duct system as disclosed in Fig. l, is' a filter I3, a blower M, a centrifugal spray atomizer l5, and a. special bame device I 6. Also included in the duct system is a by-pas's duct ll and an associated gate l8 leading to a lower duct ll.

The rotor of the blower is driven by a motor 33' customarily secured to thefloor adjacent the blcwer housing and having driving connection comprising pulleys 33" and 35" and belt 35 substantially as disclosed in Fig. 13.

The spray atomizer mechanism is driven by a motor it as will be later explained.

Fig. 3 discloses an arrangement generally similar to that shown in Fig. 1 with the addition of a heat absorbing element l9 which will not be described herein further than to say that it may be of any suitable type.

The element I 9 is disposed within a duct 20, the lower portion of which leads through a gate 2i into duct l2 and the upper end of which leads through gates 22 and 23 into ducts 24 and I2 5 Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic view showing elecrespectively. Duct 24 leads to the outside of the are disposed adjacent the bottom of chamber l0 and connected by duct l I to the housing of blower I4, which latter is seen disposed adjacent the floor of the building. 'In this arrangement the heme means: comprises a deflecting'trough member l6" extending from the spray mechanism housing to a. point within duct l0 adjacent the heating surfaces; of the furnace. Secured to the outer extremity of the trough is a screen membar or baflle 16' extending outwardly therefrom a suitable distance adjacent the heating surfaces substantially as shown. The baflle is composed of screen or perforated material and is adapted to permit incoming air-to circulate therethrough to a certain extent while at the same time acting as a deflector whereby the main stream of air projected into chamber I0 is de-' flected upwardly as indicated-by the large arrows. The function of babies l6 and I6 will be explained later. I

Arrows indicate the flow of air through the system which is obviously similar tothat shown in Fig. 1, with the exception that air flowing through the spray mechanism I5 passes there-.

through in a substantially horizontal'line, whereas in the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, it passes into the spray mechanism in a vertical line. Further, when air is routed to flow through ducts I2, I! and gate (8 by gravity, as noted in connection with Fig. 1, it, in the Fig. 4 arrangement,

. also passes the spray mechanism l5 and battle l6, whereas in the Fig. 1 arrangement the -latter are by-passed. During such passage of air the spray mechanism may or may not be- .active.

It will be quite apparent that an outside duct such as 24 in Fig. 3, together with gates such as 23 and 25; may be applied to the arrangement shown in Figs. 1 and 4.

The simpler form of duct and gate arrangement is shown'in Fig. 1, wherein with blower l4 running and gate/l8 closed, air may be drawn into duct l2, through filter l3 and forced through spray mechanism l5, baiiies l6, through chamber l0 and into the area to be heated through duct ll. With blower l4 stationary andfigate IB open, as indicated by dotted lines, air may flow by gravitydownwardly through ducts l2, H, and I1, thence through chamber l0 and duct H as already noted.

The arrangement shown in Fig. 3 provides de-.

tail control of the several ducts wherein gate 2| may be closed to prevent circulation through duct and cooling element l9 and gate opened, whereupon gates 22 and 23 may be set to admit any desired proportion of outside air to mix with that returning through duct l2, or gates 22 and 23 may be closed-with gate 25 openedwhereby the circulation will be the same as with the arrangement of Fig. 1.

With gates 2| open, gates 22 and 25 closed and gate 23 open, all of the air returning through duct l2 may be routed through the cooling element l9. With suitableadjustment of gates 25 and 2| and gate 23 open, a given portion of the return air may be routed through the cooling element while the remaining portion passes di- Admixrectly to the blower through duct l2. ture of outside air may obviously be accomplished by suitable adjustment of gate 22 relative to the other gates. It is apparent that many combinations are available to suit conditions of practical I use.

Referring to Figs. 5 and 6, it will be noted that filter l3 comprises a frame including perforated plates 21 spaced apart by comparatively narrow side members 28, the whoie secured into a unit having an open area which is filled with suitable filtering material such as steel wool felt.

The filter is so dimensioned as tosubstantially cover the open area of the upper portion of blow er housing and is slida-bly mounted therein in an angular relation by means of supporting strips 29 secured to the housing walls 30. The filter;

handles 32.

the slot.

frame is provided with a front plate 3| carrying A suitably formed slot in housing .30 provides a means whereby the filter is conveniently placed in or removed from the housing for cleaning. When the filter is in the housing, the front plate 3| becomes an effective coverfor Below the filter is disposed the blower l4 preferably of the multi-vane type comprising one,

ortwo, rotors 33disposed centrally or at either side of housing 30 and surrounded by subhou'sings 34 which are secured within housing 30. Rotors 33 are secured to a shaft 35 which is supported at either end by bearings 36.

, Bearings 36 are supported in a resilient manner bymeans of spring strips fashioned into a cradle-like form, as shown in Fig. 12, having a mounted bearings is free to gyrate about its true center without contact with the housing walls whereby vibration and noise in the structure is avoided.

For illustration, the blower mechanism is shown in Fig. 6 as comprising dual rotors mounted upon the shaft 35, with arrows indicating a flow of air into the central portion of therotors and outwardly through'the bottom of the housings 34.

Obviously, other arrangements of rotors are capable of producing a similar result and we there-" fore do not wish to be limited to the particular arrangement shown.

Disposed below 'the blower and adapted to re- 1 ceive air therefrom is a chamber containing the centrifugal spray mechanism generally designated I 5. This mechanism comprises a motor 40, securely mounted in a depressed portion of a horizontal housing partition 4| and having its shaft extending downwardly to securely support a flanged hub member 42.

To the flanged portion of hub 42 is secured, in

a spaced ma-nner, Fig. 7, a dished disk member 43 having its peripheral portion raised somewhat above the central area and the central portion fashioned, as at 44, to form a hollow cone with its smaller end extending downwardly to a point near the floor of the housing.

Surrounding disk 43 and spaced somewhat therefrom, as at 43, Fig. 8, is a ring member 45 supported from the floor of the. housing by legs 46. The upper edge of ring 45, in plane with the periphery of disk 43, is fashioned into a series of upstanding angularly disposed vanes 41, the function of which will be explained shortly?" Fig. 7 illustrates that the floorof the housing comprises a pan 48 having upstanding walls 49 thereabout to adapt the pan to contain water. I

A waste cock 48' provides controlled drainage from the pan.

As indicated in Figs. 6 and 7,, an upstanding partition 50 extends from the right hand wall 49, '7. to a point somewhat beyond the center of the pan and return to form an elongated sepa- I rate basin 5| within the pan. 1

Through the right hand wall 49, Fig. 7, there extends a duct, 52, controlled by a conventional valve mechanism 53, which-latter is controlled by a float 54. The function of this mechanism is obviously to maintain the water level in basin 5| at a predetermined height.

Fig. 5 indicates that the chamber of spray mechanism i5 has an opening 55 in its left hand wall, giving access to the interior of the chamber, the opening being provided with a suitable cover 56, as shown.

The right hand side of the chamber opens into duct l1 and in this opening is disposed the baflle mechanism i6.

As indicated in Figs. 9 and 10, this bailie mechanism comprises a series of vertically disposed angulated plates 51 spaced apart in parallel manner and arranged in plural groups. Fig. 9 indicates that the plates are so formed and disposed relative to each other that air passing between them must follow a tortuous course where by contact of all portions of the air with the surface of the plates is promoted.

In the central portion of the baffle mechanism,

between the groups noted, is an open area 58 within which is disposed a pivotally mounted gate member 59. A connecting rod 60, pivotally connected with member 59 leads to the exterior of flow of air through associated ducts.

Gate l8, also, shown diagrammatically, is pivotally mounted between ducts I1 and II. The pivots upon which the gate operates are disposed off center of the gate member as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3, by reason of which one side of the gate, designated l8,- is longer and somewhat heavier than the other. By reason of this unbalanced condition, the gate tends to remain in the vertical position shown in dotted lines. As already noted, when the gate is open, an open passage is provided through ducts |2, l1, l1, I0, and II, whereby air circulated by gravity may move freely through the system.

When the air is being circulated by blower M, it is desired thatgate l8 be closed to prevent circulation through duct ll, therefore when the blower is running, the gate is adapted to be automatically closed and retained-in closed position by the following means.

With the gate open, when the blower is started, air is forced through baffle l5, where it impinges the longer portion l8 of the gate, forcing it to swing upwardly toward a horizontal, or closed, position. Operation of the blower creates a slight negative pressure \within ducts l2 and H which co-operates with the plus pressure in duct il' to finally close and hold the gate inhorizontal position until such time as blower operation is discontinued, when the gate will again swing-to open position. In this manner flow of air by blower through filter, spray and bailie system or by gravity through duct I1 is automatically provided for.

Operation or the filter is thought obvious. The blower is obviously driven by motor 33' through belt 35' over pulleys 33' and 35" as best shown in Fig. 13.

Operation of the centrifugal spray mechanism may be explained as follows:

The float 55 and valve mechanism 53 are adapted to control the flow of water from an outside source through duct 52 to maintain the water level in basin 5| somewhat below the partition 50 but sumciently .high to cover the lower edge of cone 45 as shown in Fig. 7.

Motor 40 is adapted to rotate diskv 53 together with cone M at a relatively high speed whereupon water from basin 5| is centrlfugally elevated adjacent the inner wall of the cone and caused to flow through the opening between the disk and flange of hub 42, outwardly across disk 53 to be violently projected across the space 53 intocontact with the deflecting vanes 51 of ring 45. The result of the action described is rapid and thorough disintegration of water whereby a fine mist is produced within the chamber and a substantially continuous sheet or screen of finely dividedwater, extending over all 'of the open area between the periphery of disk 43 and the walls of the chamber is mainrained.

It will be clear that air projected from the blower into the spray chamber cannot pass therethrough without intimate contact with the water screen, whereby any dust or other extraneous matter escaping through filter i3 is dissolved or entrained with the water and removed from the air.

The non-vaporized water projected from disk 53 finds its way to the pandtwhe're it accumulates until its'level rises above the basin partltion 50 when it overflows into the basin. Since the area of pan 58 is substantially large and movement of water into and out of it is compar atively slow the pan becomes. in effect, a setting pond where entrained dirt settles to the bottom. I

' By means of the above described process. water may continuously be drawn from basin 5|, sprayed by disk 43, returned to pan 48, settled and the clean portion thereofueturned to basin 5| for recirculation.

By means of the settling process, the wateris continuously cleaned and clean water exclusively is permitted to enter basin 5| and spray system.

The co-operative action of disk 43 and de-- fleeting vanes 41 to produce a vaporous atomization of water has already been noted. With this in mind, it will be clear that the spray.

mechanism has a double function, to provide an air washing screen of water and to reduce a portion of the sprayed water to a substantially vaporous state, whereby it is readily dissolved in the air. Thus air passing through the spray chamber is thoroughly washed and humidified.

Due to the fact that a certain amount of water is continuously dissolved and carried out 'of the chamber by the air, a replenishing supply is necessary and this is provided through duct 52, as already noted, It is to be noted that fresh water supplied through duct 52 is not permitted to mix with processed water in pan 48 except as a result of overflow noted. I By meansof waste cock 48 processed water may be drained an as desired and by this means recirculation of processed water and the relative proportion of fresh water used may be controlled.

As already noted, the baille mechanism |5is so disposed that air passing through the spray chamber must pass through the baffle.

Airpassingthe water spray at relatively high finely divided particles. and this water laden air in passing through the tortuous passages be-' tween the baffle plates is forced to impinge the plates, whereby the water particles are forced.

into contact, with the plates to collect thereon and drain back to the pan 48. Thus excess.

water is separated from the air.

In practical operation of heating devices of the class described, atmospheric conditions are sometimes such that the amount of water normally dissolved in the air as it passes through the spray chamber is not such as to maintain the desired humidity condition in the area being heated. In such a case it is necessary to promote vaporization'of additional water in the air and for this p rpose the gate 58 is provided.

It will be noted that with gate 59 closed-as shown in dotted outline in Fig. 9, all of the air passing the bai'iie will be forced to contact with plates 51 and by this means substantially all of the entrained, undissolved water will be separated.

Obviously, with the gate open, a certain amount of non-separated air and water mixture will be admitted to the heating duct l0. Upon contact with the heatingsurfaces of duct |0,'or I i the hot air therein, the undissolved particles of.

water will be vaporized, whereupon solution will quickly take place. By this means humidification, beyond the range normally provided by simple circulation of air in'the presence of the water spray, may be accomplished.

By means of adjustment of the gate, the

amount of moisture, beyond the normal amount as above noted, may be controlled.

Referring particularly to the arrangement shown in Fig. 4, we find the baiiie it replaced by the trough i6". and screen It whereby the air stream, carrying entrained water as described,

\ impinges the screen it and isl=thereby deflected upwardly to substantiallyfollow the line of large arrows. Contact between the air and screen it obviously brings about separation of the less subdivided water from the air, which water drains downwardly over the surfaceof the screen to trough i6" and is thereby conducted to the spray mechanism as already noted.

The finely divided water remaining withthe .air stream, upon coming into the presence of the heated surfaces in duct ill. is thus quickly and completely vaporized, the action being similar to that described in connection with bame IS.

The foregoing has described the structure and function of the several elements of our air conditioning apparatus.

For conditions of practical use, his necessary that means for automatically controlling the several elements be included in order that their operation may be properly co-ordinated to bring about-the result formhich the apparatus is intended.

Our invention therefore includes control means as follows; Fig. 11 diagrammatically discloses the control elements and associated circuits wherein 65 designates a room thermostat, sensitive to temperature and disposed in the area to be heated, 66 a manual switch disposed in any convenient location, 81 a humidistat sensitive to moisture. conditions and disposed in the area heated, 68-

a draft or other control apparatus associated with the heating element, 69 a high limit control switch sensitive to temperature within the heat- 'velocity will normally entrain a certain amount of undissolved water in the form of more or less ing element and disposed adjacent thereto and 10 a control switch sensitive to temperatures within the heating ducts and also disposed adjacent thereto. 33' and 40 respectively designate the blower and spray atomizer motors already noted. Since the above mentioned devices are of conventional form and manufacture, they will not be described in detail.

The control devices designated 68 and 09 do not form a necessary part of our invention and will'therefore not be described further than to say that the switch 69 isoperable to automati cally operate the drafts or other controls of a furnace in such a manner that the heat of the furnace shall not progress above orbelow predetermined limits, thus assuring maintenance of suitable minimum heat and at the same time providing against danger from overheating.

The remainingdevices are connected to control the blower and spray atomizer motors as will be explained.

Before proceeding further, it may be noted that control switch 10 is sensitive to temperatures within the furnace casing, as already noted and is adapted to control associated circuits in such a manner that the circuits are thrown out of action when the furnace temperature is below a, predetermined point and to maintain the circuits active when the temperature is above a predetermined low point. Its function in co-operation with the several circuits'will be explained in more detail later.

Line 12 forms a return line leading from mo-- tors 33 and 40 and control device 68 to the supply line H.

Supply line II has connection through line 14 with thermostat 65 and manual switch 66. The

opposite terminal of thermostat 65 has connection through line 15 with limit switches 69 and 10. The opposite terminal of manual switch 66 has connection, through line 16, with motor 33'. The opposite terminal ofihumidistat 61 connects through line 11 to motor40. Line 18 connects switch 09 with control 68.

For. the purpose of illustration, it is assumed that switch 69 is set to operate the heat con- I trol member 08 to build up the fire when the temperature in the furnace reaches a. low limit of 175 and ,to reverse the action, to dampen the fire, when the temperature reaches a high limit of 200, also that switch 10 is set to open the circuit of lines l5l6 when the furnace temperature is below 90, to retain it open until the temperature reaches 150?,thereupon to close the circuit and retain it closed at any higher temperature and through descending progress until the temperature again reaches 90, and repeat.

We may now assume that the furnace fire is 1 operation of the air circulating system already described.

While the system is in operation, that is, while the room temperature remains below 70 and thermostat remains closed, if it should so hapaoeaeae pen that the fire did not maintain the furnace temperature at sumcient height to heat the break the blower motor circuit circulated air above 90, switch 10 will open and. The switch will remain in this position until the fire has built up sufflciently to raise the temperature above 150, whereupon the motor will re- 5! which is eiiective to connect lines it and ii and thus transmit current to motor 39 to opcrate the spray mechanism as already explained.

Obviously, since the circuit of line 16 includes thermostat t5 and switch It, humidistat S7 is not efiective to place' motor $8 in operation unless current is being delivered to motor 33'. Thus the spray mechanism cannot operate unless the blower is in operation. As will be apparent, when the blower is in operation, the spray mechanism is independently operable as controlled by humidistat 61.

It is assumed that the humidistat is disposed adjacent the thermostat and that air moved by the blower circulates in contact with the humidistat as well as the thermostat.

Assuming the blower to be in operation as already noted if the air contains moisture below, for example, 45 per cent, the humidistat will close circuit, 16-11 to start the spray mechanism with the result already explained. When the humidity reaches a predetermined point the humidistat opens the circuit to discontinue operation of the spray. Thus humidification is controlled independently of the heating meansbut dependently upon the operation thereof.

During periods when sufficient humidification can only be provided by opening gate 59, as already explained, humidistat 61 remains effective to control the moisture content of the air in the usual manner. By this means the opening 58 becomes a means for making up a deficiency in moisture, while at the same time being in capable of bringing about an excess thereof.

Manual switch S6 is provided for convenience when it is desired to operate the blower without reference to the automatic control apparatus.

The foregoing will illustrate the means by which our air conditioning system automatically provides properly cleaned, heated and humidified air for dwellings and the like.

What we claim is:

1. An air conditioning apparatus having in combination a heater, a blower, a centrifugal spray mechanism, separate driving means for the blower and spray mechanism, automatic control means for the blower drive means and automatic control means for the spray mechanism drive means, the first mentioned control means being effective to control operation of the second named drive means and automatic switch means adapted to control the first and second named drive means.

2. An air conditioning apparatus including a heater, a blower, a water spray mechanism embodying rotating and co-operative stationary water disintegrating elements, a bafile mechanism embodying-movable and stationary water collecting elements, and a duct system adapted to conduct air through the, aforementioned mechanisms.

3. An air conditioning apparatus including a heater, a blower, a spray mechanism embodying rotating and co-operative stationary water disintegrating elements, separate drive means for the blower and spray mechanisms, separate automatic control means for said drive means, baiiie mechanism embodying stationary and movable water collecting elements and a duct system connecting the aforementioned mechanisms and adapted to conduct air therethrough.

.4. An air conditioning apparatus having in co bination a heater, a blower, aspray mechanism, a baflle mechanism having stationary water collecting elements and a movable gate mechanism, a duct system connecting and adapted to conduct air driven by the blower successively through the blower, the spray mechanism, the baffle and g heater, the spray mechanism adapted to spray and disintegrate waterin the presence of the air whereby extraneous matter in the air is entrained in the water and a portion of the water is dissolved and/or entrained in the air to humidify the same within the range of natural evaporation, thejbafile mechanism being adapted when said gate is closed, to separate substantially all of the undissolved water from the air, the gate adapted, when open, to permit passage through the baffle mechanism of a predetermined amount of undissolved entrained water into the heater, whereby I the water will be vaporized and readily dissolved in the air, to the endthat the air may be humidifled in a controlledmanner, beyond the range provided by natural evaporation in the spray mechanism, and means forseparating entrained dirt from the sprayed water.

5..An air conditioning apparatus including a blower, a spray mechanism a baffle mechanism, a

heater, a filter, a by-pass mechanism and a duct system including a. return duct adapted to conduct air through the several mechanisms, separate drive means for the blower and spray mechanism, separate automatic control means therefor, the blower and by-pass mechanisms adapted to act co-operatively in such a manner that when the blower is running air is circulated successively through the spray mechanism,

baffle mechanisms, heater, return duct, filter and blower and when the blower is stationary air is circulated by gravity successively through the bypass, heater and return duct.

,6. An air conditioning apparatus including a housing, a return duct in the upper end thereof, a side duct secured thereto and communicating with said return duct, a removable filter disposed in the upper portion of the housing in an angular relation'therewith, a blowerldisposed below the filter having its cover portion'secured to one side of the housing, separate drive means therefor, a lateral partition in said housing forming a lower chamber therein, the exhaust opening of said blower cover communicating with said lower chamber, a spray mechanism disposed in the lower chamber, the same having moving and cooperative stationary .water disintegrating elements, separate driving means therefor, a battle mechanism having moving and co-operative stationary water collecting elements, the baflie mechanism disposed in o'ne side of said lower chamber and forming a bafiled passage therefrom and an exhaust duct disposed externally of the baffle, the aforementioned side duct adapted to conduct air from a point in the return duct outside of said filter to said exhaust duct having automatic gate'means disposed therein, the above described mechanisms, adapted to operate in such a manner that air may be forced successively 6 V through the return duct and side duct to the exhaust duct, the said automatic gate means adapted, when air is being forced in the first mentioned manner, to remain closed to close the side duct and when flowing in the second mentioned manner to remain open to permit 7. An air conditioning apparatus including a blower, a filter, a cooling element, a duct system including an intake adapted to receive air from the interior of a'building, to receive air from the exterior of the building and an exhaust duct adapted to conduct air into thebuilding, gate mechanisms associated with said ducts adapted to be adjusted in such a manan intake adapted nor that airrmay be forced by the blower successively through the exhaust duct, the first named intake. the filter and blower, or through the sec- 0nd named intake successively through-the cooling element, filter, blower and exhaust duct, or

successively through the first named intake, the.

duct. ROBERT P. WI-II'I'MER. WILLIAM G. MACY. 

